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DepartmentaLEiiblic Instruction 



EDUCATIONAL PUBLICATIONS 



Bulletin No. 16 




Vocational Series No. 11 



What the Pubhc Schools of Indiana 

Are Doing in Pre- Vocational 

Agricultural Work 




Class in Agriculture judging corn, Winamac, Ind. 



INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA 
June, 1915 



DEPARTMENT OP PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 

VOCATIONAL DIVISION 



Charles A. Gueathouse 
Superintendent of Public Instruction 



W. F. Book 



Stale Deputy in ("linrgo of Indnsti'ial and Domestic Science 

Education 



Z. M. Smith 
State Supervisor of Agricultural Education 



(2) 






FOREWORD. 

This bulletin deals with the pre-vocatioiial 
agricultural work in the public schools of In- 
diana. No attempt has been made to discuss 
fully all that is being done in this line of work. 

Nothing is said in this bulletin about the vo- 
cational agricultural departments that have been 
organized and jjut into operation under the pro- 
visions for state aid. 

Z. M. SMITH, 
State Supervisor Agricultural Education. 



(3) 



WHAT INDIANA SCHOOLS ARE DOING IN PRE- 
VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE. 

The Story in Brief. 

Great progress has been made toward good agricultural prac- 
tice on Indiana farms as a result of the work of the public schools 
in pre-vocational agriculture. The pupils of the seventh, eighth 
and high school grades have demonstrated that scientific agricul- 
ture is profitable. Boys who have followed the instructions ob- 
tained in school on the problem of corn growing have produced 
annually for the last three years from sixty to one hundred and 
twenty-eight bushels of corn per acre. The average production 
of corn per acre by the boys has exceeded the average production 
of the State by forty-seven bushels. The increased production has 
been obtained without a proportionate increase in the cost of pro- 
duction. The boys have produced their corn at an average cost 
of twenty-one cents per bushel as against thirty-five cents for the 
State. 

In many school districts in the State farmers will not plant 
corn that has not been tested. For the most part the corn is 
tested for the fai'mers by the agricultui'al class in the home school. 
A great deal of prejudice on the part of parents had to be over- 
come before the value of testing seed corn could be demonstrated 
in a practical way by the boys. Gradually the rag doll and saw- 
dust or sand testers have come into common use on the farms as 
a result of the work by the public school pupils. 

The schools have done a notable work in the improvement of the 
dairy interests of the State. Many unprofitable cows have been 
sent to the block as a result of the records which school boys have 
kept of their Babcock tests for butter fat and of the amount and 
kinds of feed used. In many cases good cows have been dis- 
covered by the boys and have been made even more profitable by 
the care given them and the rations fed in accordance with infor- 
mation obtained at school. 

Fruit and vegetable growing have received a great deal of at- 
tention in the schools in all parts of the State. Budding, grafting, 
pruning, and spraying of fruit trees have been practiced exten- 
sively by pupils, and in many instances the entire management of 
the home orchard has been entrusted to the boy who has studied 

(5) 



6 



agri('ultui-(> in scliool. The liouie gardens have been phmned, cul- 
tivated, and managed in detail by pupils who have done the work 
as a part of their regular school course. The gardening work is 
not confined exclusively to country boys and girls. Last year 
twenty thousand pupils in town and city schools in Indiana cul- 
tivated home garden plots under the direction of the public schools. 
The important problem of poultiy raising has not been neg- 
lected by the public schools of Indiana. Many schools have con- 
structed poultry houses <ai the school grounds and have hatched 
chickens and fed hens for egg production. But a greater work 
than this has been done with poultry by the pupils in their man- 




■Jk*W"j> 



'/Mv "^ 



Pupils gathering the fruits of their labors. 



agement of poultry at home. The practical management of poul- 
try which is limited to the tiock on the school grt)unds has com- 
paratively little value. But when pupils react to the school in- 
struction by managing the home flock on a practical basis then 
the work performed at school becomes of inestimable value. 

The care and management of all classes of live-stock have been 
interesting subjects for study in hiuidreds of schools in Indiana. 
Pupils have learned that pure bred live-stock is more profitable 
than scrubs. They have had actual practice in judging all classes 
of stock. 1'he lessons learned at school have given many boys con- 
fidence in their judgment to the degi'ce that they have mustered 
up enough courage to propose to their fathers that scrub stock be 
replaced by pure bred, and that more economical and nutritive 
rations be fed. Parents have learned to respect the work of the 



8 

schools because of the profital)le results obtaiued by following the 
suggestions which their l)oys liave made. 

Purity tests with clover and alfalfa seeds which the public 
schools have made have netted the farmers of the State an amount 
equal to a snug fortune. In one town in the State the seed dealer 
was elated over the fact that farmers would no longer purchase 
second grade seed because the boys had demonstrated in their 
agricultural work that high grade seed is cheaper, and in addition 
to its being cheaper it is free from the seeds of obnoxious weeds 
which have been distributed far and wide in Indiana by sowing 
impure clover and alfalfa. 

More could be added to this general statement. Enough has 
been said to give the reader an idea of the magnitude and impor- 
tance of the agricultural work which the public schools in Indiana 
are doing. 

We are fortunate in being able to give specific information 
about the work that has been done in several different communities. 
While the following brief statements are definite yet they do not 
give in an adequate way an account of all of the home pro])lems 
worked by the pupils of the several teachers referred to. 

Home Problem Work. 

The pupils of W. G. Kitchen, Columbus High School, worked 
out the following problems at home : Classification of soils on 
home farms; best method of management of home soils; listing 
types and breeds of farm animals at home; classification of feeds 
produced on farm ; working out of feeding proper rations ; measur- 
ing and planning home gardens ; identification and control of in- 
jurious insects. 

Seventy-five pupils of the seventh, eigh;th and high school 
grades will cultivate and manage home gardens this summer un- 
der the personal supervision of Mr. Kitchen. 

H. M. Walker of Corydon has a class in agriculture composed 
of high school boys. These boys have tested seed corn for their 
I'athers and their neighbors and have made a special study of the 
soils of the home farms and gardens. 

The eighth grade and high school boys in the agricultural 
classes at Zionsville have tested seed corn and milk for the farmers 
in the community. 

Otis Calvin of Matthews had one boy in his class who sowed five 
acres of alfalfa, and tried out the effect of lime, manure, inocula- 



9 

tion, and drainage as compared with plots without one or more 
of these. Another boy gave special attention to the problems of 
growing oats and corn. He grew twenty acres of corn and five 
acres of oats. The seed oats were treated for smut. Two brothers 
fed fifty-five head of beef cattle. The boys with the aid of Mr. 
Calvin figured the rations used. The cattle topped the market 
and the father of the boys considered the project a success. One 
boy induced his father to send a scrub bull to the block. 

At Waveland the pupils of H. V. Raquet did a great deal of 
spraying and pruning for the townspeople and the farmers in the 
community. They had to refuse many on account of lack of time. 
A small charge was made to cover the expenses incurred by the 
school in purchasing the pruning and spraying outfits and spray 
material. Each of the boys of the high school who took dairying 
kept a record of the milk production of one cow for sixteen weeks. 
The milk was weighed and samples were brought to school and 
tested. At the beginning of the year a Community Club with a 
membership of two hundred-fifty was organized. Meetings were 
held every month. Late in the winter a Junior Civic League was 
formed. Its members were composed of pupils from the fourth 
to eighth grades inclusive. As a result of the work of the school 
and these organizations a large number of boys and girls are work- 
ing out home problems in farm and garden crops. 

As a result of practical work done by the pupils in the Val- 
paraiso schools under the direction of Audrey Skomp, the farm- 
ers of the community became interested and organized an even- 
ing class which met every Friday night. Mr. Skomp directed the 
work of this class along practical lines. Several members of the 
class were so thoroughly convinced of the soundness of the instruc- 
tion which they received as to make practical use of it in seedbed 
preparation, and drainage projects. One fanner made experi- 
ments with alfalfa and reported to the class. He proved conclu- 
sively that alfalfa could be grown in that community. Up to the 
time of the carrying out of this demonstration, the farmers of the 
community did not believe alfalfa could be grown in that locality. 

The agricultural class of Edgar Rogers of Mooreland weighed 
and tested the milk of their home herds. Seed corn was tested by 
the rag doll method. Clover seed bought by the farmers was 
tested for impurities and germinable qualities. 

The agricultural work in Jackson Township, Hamilton County, 
is under the supervision of C. 0. Tuttle. Mr. Tuttle places but 
little emphasis on .text-book work in agriculture, but lays great 



11 

stress upon the working out of actual farm problems in connection 
with the school work. Books are used for reference purposes and 
are consulted when information on specific problems is needed. 
Sixty boys and thirty or more girls are engaged in home problem 
work under the direction of Mr. Tuttle and Miss Marian Lane. 
During the summer of 1914 Mr. Tuttle was employed to supervise 
club work and to act as township agricultural advisor. The prin- 
cipal lines of his extension work were hog cholera, alfalfa and 
orchard demonstrations. Under his direction the schools have com- 
plete supervision of an orchard of fifty trees and advisory charge 
of three others. 

The Mount Auburn schools, Jackson Township, Shelby County, 
under the supervision of R. M. Craig, have tested seed corn for 
farmers, have tested milk, and have conducted corn shows. The 
agricultural classes are composed of boys of the seventh, eighth, 
and high school grades. 

The agricultural class in the seventh and eighth grades at 
Brownstown, under the direction of Hale Bradt, have laid em- 
phasis on the study of the soils of the home farms. The home 
problems for this summer are inoculation of soil for alfalfa by the 
use of commercial inoculations and soil from fields of legumes. 

The eighth grade boys at Westfield studied grass seed and small 
grain collected from the farms in the community, and made field 
and laboratory tests of the soils on the home farms. The high 
school boys in their work in animal husbandry carefully studied 
forty horses under the personal direction of the instructor, W. E. 
Furnas. The studies were fairly comprehensive, including judg- 
ing, diseases, blemishes, age, breeding, care and feeding. This 
class also studied dairying and did a great deal of practical work 
in testing the home herds and in making personal inspections of 
silos. 

W. F. Smith at Oxford has agricultural classes in the seventh, 
eighth, and high school grades. Members of the high school class 
have had charge of the home poultry and have managed and fed 
the flocks in accordance with instructions worked out in class. The 
boys of the seventh and eighth grades and their teacher selected 
seed corn from the field last fall and stored it in the school build- 
ing. This spring they tested the corn for germination. 

C. W. Jack has charge of the agricultural work in the Craw- 
fordsville high school. Each boy in one of the agricultural classes 
sowed alfalfa at home. The soil was limed and fertilized and the 
seedbed was carefully prepared. The class in poultry is doing 



13 

work at home. Each boy has culled his flock and set eggs from 
pure bred stock. Pupils who are studying horticulture have charge 
of the home gardens. The instructor inspects each garden once per 
week. The boys tested their garden soils for acidity and applied 
lime when necessary. Two boys are growing two acres each of 
tomatoes for a canning factory. 

As a result of the agricultural work in the seventh, eighth and 
high school grades at Worthington, seven boys will have collec- 
tively 546 acres of corn which they will plant, cidtivate, and man- 
age in general this season in accordance with information obtained 
at school. Other pupils are working out home problems in poultry 
raising and tomato growing. The work done this summer will be 
carried on under the personal supervision of E. B. Rizer, who will 
visit each pupil and inspect his work at least once every ten days. 

During the past year the l)oys in the agricultural class in the 
consolidated school in Union Township, Johnson County, kept re- 
cords on dairy cows at their homes. These records showed the 
amount of feed used, the kind, weight of milk per day and the 
butter fat tests. One boy has been keeping a record during the 
year on pure bred ducks. His record includes the kind and amount 
of feed used, the income, and the profit or loss for each montli. 
Farmers in the community have had their corn tested by the school. 
The agricultural teacher, Bert E. Tapp, is a practical farmer and 
believes thoroughly in using the problem method in teaching agri- 
culture. 

Frank Woerner, who is the teacher of agriculture in the Cen- 
ter Grove consolidated school in Johnson County, has directed his 
classes in the study of soils and crops. The soils of the home farms 
have been studied, seed corn has been selected, stored and tested, 
and the boys are now engaged in carrying out their project in 
corn growing. 

Results of a practical nature are being obtained through the 
work of the agricultural classes at Trafalgar. M. F. Kennedy, the 
teacher, has won the confidence of the farmers in the community. 
As a result of the lime tests made by the pupils one farmer bought 
a car load of lime for use on his acid and clay soils. Another 
came to the school for information about legumes, and others 
asked for information on the problems of growing clover and plant- 
ing fruit trees. The pupils planted an orchard for a farmer in 
the community. The boys did all the blasting, cultivating, setting, 
and pruning. 



14 

F. A. Ogle of Star City has accomplished excellent results 
through his work witli pupils in agriculture. His pupils have 
carried out two hog feeding and several poultry feeding experi- 
ments. In conducting the hog feeding experiments rations were 
figured, the liogs were weighed at reguhir intei-vals, daily gains in 
weight were determined and the cost of production per pound was 
found. The feeding of lot No. 1 covered a period of thirty-three 
days. The hogs gained 2.7 pounds each per day at a cost of 
$.0461 per pound. One of the boys who conducted poultry feed- 
ing demonstrations at home prevailed upon his father to divide 
the home flock from which they were getting no eggs and permit 
him to feed one-half in accordance with instructions received at 
school. The half of the flock which the boy fed yielded a 40% 
egg production during the winter while the other lialf produced no 
eggs. A merchant in Star City said that the poultry work in 
school had demonstrated the value of pure bred poultry so con- 
clusively that farmers were replacing their scrulis with pure breds. 
For this reason he said the eggs which the farmers brought to 
him were uniform and large to the extent that he paid two cents 
per dozen more for eggs than could be paid for eggs in neighboring 
towns, because the eggs produced in his community brought in the 
eastern markets a much better price than those brought in from 
other neighl)orhoods. Pupils have budded trees at home, and 
pruned and sprayed fruit trees in the home orchards. 

The agricultural classes in the school at Sandborn have tested 
seed corn for farmers. There has been in the school laboratory at 
one time as many as ten bushels of seed corn. The boys have 
pruned and sprayed fruit trees at home. They have studied the 
soils on the home farms and have carried out practical demonstra- 
tions in corn growing and poultry raising. The teacher, A. M. 
Wheeler, has succeeded in arousing the interest of farmers in better 
agriculture. 

A class of girls in the Pendleton schools has done splendid work 
in the line of poultry. Each girl has had entire control of twelve 
pure bred hens at her home. Throughout the year the hens have 
been fed for egg production and careful records have been kept. 
The importance of the proper housing of hens as necessary to egg 
production was impressed upon the pupils and their parents by 
reason of the fact that the chickens sheltered in the house shown 
on tills page did not produce eggs until after they had been housed 
in February, wliereas the hens properly sheltered at the homes of 




^^"* ■'•% ^^ 



Shelter provided for the poultry up to February. 



-^'--*;v% 




Poultry house completed in February. 



16 

other members of the class produced eggs regidarly during the 
winter. 

Early this spring the members of tlie class took up the hatching 
problem work in addition to the management for egg production. 
Each pupil tried out both the natural and artificial methods of 
incubation. 

The teacher, Miss Florence Knipe, has visited the pupils at 
regular and frequent intervals throughout the year for the i)ur- 
pose of studying actual conditions under which each was working. 
The information thus gained enabled her to plan and direct the 
class work along practical lines and in such a manner as to meet 
the needs presented in the home problems of the pupils. 

Mr. D. H. Ashley of Warsaw had each of his pupils carry out 
a project of their own selection. Some chose chickens ; others steers, 
hogs or dairy cows. The pupils were required to make reports 
which included initial weights, ages, rations, costs, drawings of 
buildings with suggested modifications for improvement. The final 
reports gave results sliowing gross receipts and net returns. Some 
were surprised at the cost and attempted to find means of reducing 
same. Members of the class in horticulture took jobs of spra\'ing 
fruit trees on city lots. Old trees were pruned and renovated. 
The money obtained for the work was used in buying agricultural 
books for the school library. Most of the boys pruned and sprayed 
their home orchards. 

The high school classes in agriculture at Brazil have been re- 
quired to do one hour of field or home work per week. This work 
as a rule has had direct relation to the topics being studied in 
school. The boys did such work as selecting, scoring and testing 
seed corn, testing milk for butter fat, preparing balancetl rations 
for live stock at home, planning better arrangement of farm fences, 
etc. The members of the class were encouraged to bring home 
problems to the school and at least one such (juestion was consid- 
ered daily. The boys in one class cleaned up the home orchards 
and helped spray and prune the trees. A number of strawberry 
beds were started and other small fruits received attention. The 
class made plans and carried them out with a will when given a 
chance to help improve conditions on the lot on which the domestic 
science building is located. The agricultural teacher, Arnold V. 
Doub, has personally visited the boys and supervised the home 
problem work as far as possible. He feels that a great deal more 
time could be spent in this way to the advantage of his school work. 



18 

The agricultural work in the schools at Middlebiny has been 
extended into the community by A. T. Marvel through the pig 
feeding demonstrations carried out by some members of his class, 
through a Farm Betterment Club and a six weeks evening class 
in soils for farmers. 

Mr. C. R. Jackson's class in agriculture at Cortland helped the 
farmers of the community by testing the seed corn, grass and clover 
seed for them. 

This sort of work appealed to the farmers and was a success. 
Some of the farmers do not buy seed now until after it has been 
tested by the school. 

The greater part of the work in agriculture in the high school 
at Pine Village is carried out on the home farms of the pupils. 
After some instruction in the school and some demonstration in 
a field with a class the boys pick seed corn on the home farm and 
store it. Toward spring, after some instruction in scoring, they 
test seed corn at home and usually pick the very best ears and 
plant on the west side of a selected field. As a result of the first 
year's work in agriculture over 1,500 acres were planted with 
tested seed where seed had not been tested before. Since that time 
testing has become the rule in the conmiunity and it is only here 
and there that a man is found planting untested corn. Then it is 
always a man who is not a patron of the schools. 

During the summer the boys have continued to cultivate the 
corn and maintain the dust mulch after the corn was too high 
for two-horse cultivation. Where the father doubted the benefit of 
this practice check strips were left uncultivated. 

In connection with the study of the subject of drainage, maps 
were made of the home farms showing all drains. Where the farm 
shows considerable diversity of soil type (a common occurrence 
in this neighborhood) the boys have collected samples from differ- 
ent parts of the farm and studied percolation at home in this way. 

Feeding experiments have been carried on at home. An espe- 
cially interesting and profitable study along this line has been 
the raising of the calf by hand as compared with allowing the 
calf to run with the cow. 

When any of the fathers have put a bunch of cattle on feed 
the boys have made use of their practice in scoring, by picking 
the best steers in the lot, then watching them test their judgment. 
At butchering time the boys "have judged the hogs to be butchered 
at home, then determined the actual dressing percentages. 




-.-•-t 



Planting the home garden 




Cultivating the home garden. 



20 

In the study of milk production they have tested the home 
cows and kept accurate account of their rations. At first they 
l)rought samples of the milk to school and tested there, but before 
long they were asking to take the testing outfit home so that "the 
folks" could know all about it. The school has an outfit in a 
traveling case and loans it to pupils for use in testing milk at 
home. 




Agricultural pupils are taught to keep accurate records of amount of 
vegetables produced. 

Value of Home Problem Work. 

One can readily see from the work done at home by pupils of 
the teacliers referred to above that the home problem method of 
teaching agriculture gives meaning to the class discussions and 
laboi-atory exercises. Without such a practical treatment of the 
subject there is lack of interest, and comparatively little value is 
attached to the work. These teachers of whom we have given 
information and hundreds of others have demonstrated that home 
problem work can and should be carried on during the winter as 
well as during the summer. 

Continuation Work During the Summer. 

The home problem work will be continued dui'ing the sunnner 
by thirty thousand Indiana boys and girls. The work will be 
supervised in many communities by teachers who have been em- 



21 

ployed for the purpose. In case a supervisor is not employed the 
Avork is directed by local organizations under the supervision of 
the county superintendent of schools or the county agricultural 
agent, and the township trustees. The number of pupils who con- 
tinue this school work during the summer in the form of home 
problems is increasing from year to year, and the work is becoming 
more practical and thorough. 

Number of Agricultural Teachers in Indiana. 

A great army of teachers in Indiana is engaged in the splendid 
work of inspiring boys and girls to find keen enjoyment in doing 
worth-while things like those described in the foregoing pages. To 
tell of the Avork of each would require a large volume. Since 
August 1, 1914, representatives of the State Department of Public 
Instruction in cooperation with the Purdue Agricultural Extension 
Department have visited every county superintendent in the State. 
Data collected by these representatives show that during the year 
6,368 teachers were engaged in teaching agriculture in the one- 
room schools of Indiana ; 830 in the consolidated schools, and 400 
in the high schools. It is impossible to measure the value of these 
7,600 teachers in their noble work of educating the boys and girls 
of the State along such lines as will insure better farming and a 
fuller country life in Indiana, As a result of their splendid 
achievements in teaching agriculture we may confidently believe 
that country boys and girls who enjoy the luxuries of automobiles 
and country homes supplied with every modern convenience will 
cease their exodus from the country to the city where they may 
be surrounded by appalling conditions of ignorance, squalor and 
want, and may become dependent upon charity organizations for 
support. 

We admit that many of the 7,600 teachers who have classes in 
agriculture are not doing their work along practical lines. But 
those who are real teachers, wide awake and efficient, are teaching 
boj'S and girls and not text-books. The text-book slaves are dimin- 
ishing in numbers. Leaders in educational progress are increasing 
and are teaching boys and girls to see and use the educational 
tools lavishly supplied by nature. 

Helps from the State Department of Public Instruction. 

The State Department of Public Instruction has endeavored to 
render helpful service to teachers of agriculture. If one may 



23 

judge from the progress that teachers have made in the work and 
from the hundreds of expressions of commendation of help given 
by the Department, there is no question about the success of the 
efforts of the Department along this line. 

The Department has issued bulletins giving helps for teachers 
in agriculture. The State Supervisor of Agricultural Education 
and his assistants, supplied by the Purdue Agricultural Extension 
Department, have spent 85 days in county and township teachers' 
institutes since August 1, 1914, and have given to the 6,859 teach- 
ers in attendance 151 practical demonstrated lectures on teaching 
agriculture. Other men supplied by the Purdue Agricultural Ex- 
tension Department have given to 1,757 teachers 54 lectures of the 
kind given by the State Supervisor and his assistants, and the 
county agricultural agents have given 212 of the same kind of 
lectures to 11,578 teachers. It is impossible to estimate the real 
value of these 417 practical lectures which the State Department 
and its cooperative agencies have given to the 20,194 teachers in 
attendance. These lectures constitute only a small part of the 
work of the State Supervisor of Agricultural Education and his 
assistants and cooperative agents. 

There must be taken into consideration the hundreds of school 
visits, general meetings, personal conferences with teachers, super- 
intendents and school officials, visitation and inspection of the 
normal schools and colleges, which train teachers of agriculture, 
and thousands of letters written in answer to personal requests for 
information. 

The courses of study in agriculture issued by the Department 
in April, 1915, furnish the most complete and helpful outlines for 
teachers of seventh, eighth and high school grades that have been 
published in bulletin form. In these courses is a wealth of sug- 
gestive material based on practical farm and connnunity problems. 
The bulletin is replete with helps on the home farm problem 
method of teaching agriculture. 

During the summer the State Supervisor of Agricultural Edu- 
cation will personally supervise the work of twenty-one teachers 
who through the cooperation of the State and the Purdue Agricul- 
tural Extension Department have been employed to continue 
throughout the summer their agricultural work with their pupils. 
The pupils will not attend school, but will be visited at their homes 
at regular and frequent intervals by these teachers, who will give 
instruction and directions relative to the agricultural demonstra- 
tions which the pupils are engaged in carrying out. It is confidently 



25 

expected that the number of these supervisors will be increased 
from year to year. Those who have been employed as supervisors 
for this summer are: (1) Under State aid: C. 0. Tuttle, Atlanta; 
L. R. Romine, Pentleton ; John Little, Fairmount ; F. A. Ogle, 
Star City; W. E. Furnas, Westfield ; Bert Tapp, Trafalgar. 
(2) Under Purdue Agricultural Extension aid: Bertha Cook, Os- 
good; Maiy E. Smith, Goldsmith; Anna Noel, Star City; Marian 
Lane, Arcadia; Ida Pippenger, New Paris; E. B. Rizer, Worth- 
ington ; A. T. Marvel, Middlebury ; Z. M. Smith, Greenwood ; W. G. 
Kitchen, Columbus ; F. B. Hopkins, Danville ; Otis W. Calvin, 
Matthews ; Roy P. Wisehart, Pendleton ; Alfred Ilesler, Yeeders 
burg; C. E. Eash, Topeka. 

County Agricultural Agents. 

County agricultural agents working under the direction of the 
Purdue Agricultural Extension Department and of the State Su- 
pervisor of Agricultural Education have rendered valuable assist- 
ance to agricultural teachers. They have issued special bulletins 
and leaflets designed especially to aid the teachers in working out 
agricultural problems peculiar to the communities in which they 
are teaching. From September 1, 1914, to May 1, 1915, they gave 
249 lectures to 12,653 teachers at county and township institutes. 
They have given 1,218 talks at general school meetings with a total 
attendance of 40,880, and lOG talks at boys' and girls' club meet- 
ings with a total attendance of 4,002. As a means of creating an 
interest in and due respect for the school work in agriculture, the 
work of the county agents, since September 1, 1914, in their 1,993 
general community meetings, in addition to the school and teachers' 
meetings, with a total attendance of 195,319, in their 5,730 farm 
visits and their 22,915 otjficial calls, has been of inestimable value. 

Short Courses and Demonstrations. 

Other agencies that have given aid to teachers are the Purdue 
Short Courses and demonstrations conducted by extension work- 
ers. This year the short course work has been localized to a greater 
extent than formerly. The courses have been given in school build- 
ings in many cases. The effort to extend the work into communi- 
ties that are not easily accessible by rail was gratify ingly suc- 
cessful. 

The demonstration work done by the Purdue Extension spe- 
cialists in crops, soils, animal husbandry, horticulture, dairying 



27 

and jioiiltry has reached the schools in a helpful way. These deni- 
onstratioii and short course meetings have been attended by hun- 
dreds of teachers and pupils. 

Colleges and Normal Schools. 

The State Supervisor of Agricultural Education has visited the 
normal schools and colleges in the State several times and has 
assisted in working out plans for training teachers of agriculture. 

The colleges and normal schools deserve to be commended for 
the attitude they are showing toward the problem of training teach- 
ers in agriculture. These schools are getting away from the 
"school-boy" idea of helping teachers "cram" for examinations. 
They recognize that an institution that is worthy of being in- 
trusted with the duty of training leaders of boys and girls has no 
place in its program for the "we will prepare you for the teachers' 
examination." These schools are endeavoring to inspire teachers 
with the spirit of community leadership and social service. They 
know that such leadership and such service as rural communities 
need and demand can not be given by teachers who have been 
"preparing for examinations" and who in twelve weeks' time have 
been getting a smattering of information covering the whole field 
of agriculture. 

Nor are these schools attemj^ting to develop specialists. They 
are beginning to get at least a first glimpse of the magnitude of 
the field of agriculture. They see that the field naturally divides 
itself into several divisions and that any one of these divisions 
constitutes a subject equal in content to what is usually known 
as botany, or physics, or chemistry, or zoology, or geology, etc. 
They know that it is, therefore, impossible to cover in a superficial 
manner the entire field in twelve weeks or in one or two years 
even. Furthermore the problem of training teachers in agricul- 
ture involves a great deal more than gaining a knowledge of the 
subject, and so the colleges and normal schools are endeavoring 
to get at the heart of the problem by leading teachers to feel the 
spirit of their profession and aspire to the ideal of preparation 
for service. 

Purdue University Department of Education. 

Among the helpful cooperative agencies of the State Depart- 
ment of Public Instruction is the Purdue University Department 
of Education. Professor George L. Roberts, head of this Depart- 




i^sssr 



80 



ineiit, has provided special courses iii education for those who 
expect to teach agriculture. 

Professor Roberts and his assistant, S. S. Cromer, have planned 
and administered these special courses along lines requiring a great 
deal of practice teaching. The field for the practical work is sup- 
plied through the public schools of West Lafayette, Dayton, Delphi 
and Battle Ground, which maintain regular courses in agriculture. 
These courses are of such a character as to emphasize the working 
out of home problems through fi.eld and laboratory exercises. 




High school pupils preparing seed bed for flowers. 



Outlook. 

The outlook for worth-while agricultural work in the public 
schools of Indiana is far more promising now than it has been at 
any previous time. The teachers and all the educational agencies 
of the State are w^orking out the problem together in a spirit of 
intelligent cooperation that insures success in their efforts to be- 
queath to posterity a fuller, richer and more satisfying country 
life. 






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.V 



